The Central Bureau of Investigation is likely to convey to the Supreme Court on Monday that changes to its status report on irregularities in allocation of coal blocks were proposed by both law minister Ashwani Kumar and attorney general Ghoolam Vahanavati.
Sources said on Saturday the crucial CBI affidavit to be filed on Monday, while confirming that changes were made in the draft status report, is also likely to say that the law minister had proposed a “dilution” of language in the document before it was given to the apex court.
Over the past week, CBI director Ranjit Sinha had discussions with agency’s lawyer UU Lalit in connection with the affidavit to be filed by the agency on Monday. Lalit will represent Sinha on Monday in court where he is to file another affidavit.
The affidavit is likely to mention that the law minister disagreed with the line -- “rules not being followed in coal allocation” -- in the status report, the sources said. It will further state that the law minister had argued that CBI cannot reach this conclusion before the investigation is completed, the sources added. The sources said that CBI is likely to confirm that the attorney general saw more than one draft of the status report. CBI will tell the apex court that the probe agency manual rules remained silent on the issue of access to the status report, the sources said.
The affidavit is also likely to name the joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and a joint secretary in the Coal ministry in connection with the status report. The document is also likely to say there was a meeting with a PMO official and that changes were made, according to sources.